The Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 and the War Damages

DST 643 International Reconstruction and Development
Instructor:S. Aminul IslamProfessorDepartment of SociologyUniversity of Dhaka

Assessment01

Submitted by:

Md. Sohel Rana
SID: 1123005

Semester: Spring, 2012
Date: May 10, 2012

The Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 and the War Damages

Acknowledgement

I am grateful to Almighty Allah who gives me my valuable life and time to do something important. He blessed me with the abilities and patience of doing any job easily. The undividable truth of the world is that behind any successful work heir must be helping hand of others. I feel that my term paper about “war damage in Bangladesh in 1971” is a success and behind this achievement I realized the useful comments of some helpful people. I am grateful to S. Aminul Islam sir, course instructor of International Reconstruction and Development, Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Dhaka. He helped and gave me advice for preparing this paper, without which I could not complete my work easily. I also thank hose, who helped me to gather information in relative term. This paper provides some important information that will help me a lot in future. This report is held neutrally and never thought to offend someone personally. If anything refers similar offensive, I am sorry for any inconvenience.

Abstract:

The Bangladesh War of Independence, in terms of its human and economic experience, lasted only nine months. Still, it forever changed the character, pace and prospects of economic life in Bangladesh. When it ended, the economy was left prostrate; fortunes had been swept away and much of the capital stock was destroyed or in disrepair. This paper provides a systematic accounting of all these direct and indirect costs, as well as their impact on post-war economic life. Even the most modest assumptions place the direct and indirect cost estimates at $9.53 billion and $14.08 billion respectively, far greater than the $200 million claimed by the United Nations Relief Operations Survey. In short, the war was not a minor event either by absolute or relative measures. It was many folds greater than the magnitude of effort implied by the secessionist's first call to arms. The warring parties may have expected a large conflict; what they failed to anticipate was a cataclysm

Introduction

In August 1947, the Partition of British India gave birth to two new states; a secular state named India and an Islamic state named Pakistan. Pakistan comprised two geographically and culturally separate areas to the east and the west of India. The western zone was popularly (and for a period of time, also officially) termed West Pakistan and the eastern zone (modern-day Bangladesh) was initially termed East Bengal and later, East Pakistan. Although the population of the two zones was close to equal, political power was concentrated in West Pakistan and it was widely perceived that East Pakistan was being exploited economically, leading to many grievances. Administration of two discontinuous territories was also seen as a challenge. On 25 March 1971, rising political discontent and cultural nationalism in East Pakistan was met by brutal suppressive force from the ruling elite of the West Pakistan establishment in what came to be termed Operation Searchlight. The violent crackdown by West Pakistan forces led to Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declaring East Pakistan's independence as the state of Bangladesh on 26 March 1971. Pakistani President Agha Mohammed Yahya ordered the Pakistani military to restore the Pakistani government's authority, beginning the civil war. The war led to a sea of refugees (estimated at the time to be about 10 million) flooding into the eastern provinces of India. Facing a mounting humanitarian and economic crisis, India started...

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On April 17, 1971, a provisional government was formed in Meherpur district in western Bangladesh bordering India with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was in prison in Pakistan, as President, Syed Nazrul Islam as Acting President, and Tajuddin Ahmed as Prime Minister. As fighting grew between the army and the Bengali Mukti Bahini an estimated 10 million Bengalis, mainly Hindus, sought refuge in the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. [46]
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...In the present world, Bangladesh is known for many small, yet significant factors consisting of both the modern life and even historical sectors acclaimed by those who are fascinated by the arts and the culture of Bengal, before and during the time of the British colonies in India. Bangladesh is a country that is now recognized by many for its International Cricket team, cheap labor, growing crime rates, expanding garment industry, and a vastly populated Muslim centered country. For many countless things taken into account, this beautiful country, its laws, the business men and its leaders are underestimated and even mocked at various national and international levels. Bangladesh should be a highly developed country, and by now it would not be in the third world category. The only problem here is not the politicians or the corruption we see now. But to what we seek as the fact that the reality is inconspicuous by many, because of the losses the country had gained in the liberationwar in 1971, a debt that still has not grown on it to be repaid. It is that Bangladesh would not be a 3rd world country if not for the liberationwar. This war that is remembered by millions of Bangladeshis each year, for the brutal killings of their brothers and sisters.
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...﻿An assignment on
The LiberationWar of Bangladesh
Course No: 114
Submitted to
Anurug Chakma
Lecturer,
Department of Peace and Conflict Studies
University of Dhaka
Submitted by:
Niaz Morshed Anik
B.S.S (9th Batch),
Session: 2014-15
Class Roll: 22
Department of Peace and Conflict Studies
University of Dhaka
Date of Submission: 23rd April, 2015
Abstract:
Bangladesh a newly born independent nation state. This state is an outcome of great struggle from India in 1947 and from Pakistan in 1971. The birth of Bangladesh in 1971 is not only a historical event of this region, but an outburst of the long-term socio-political and economic struggle of Bengali nation. The event of 1971 through which Bengalis can come forward with a nation-state, which is in fact, an event in which Bengalis could reach in its utmost level of success of its thousand-year-long existence for an identity as nation-state in the global arena.
In this paper, we will explain the theoretical avenues of the birth of Bangladesh through a nine-month long great liberationwar. Beside this, this paper would put its effort to draw an answer about two questions- what are the root causes and actors behind the liberationwar of Bangladesh which took place in 1971 from March to December and what are the...

...Assignment
On
Is the LiberationWar of Bangladesh a Revolutionary War
Submitted to:
Dr. Rasheduzzaman
Dept of International Relations
University of Dhaka
Submitted by:
Md. Mahamudur Rahman (BB-19)
Md. Shakh sadi (BB-18)
Md. Esha khan (MM-40)
Md. Masud Parvez (SM-07)
Md. Zakaria Hossain (ZH-44)
Md. Masum Billah (SM-02)
Al- Mamun (ZIA- 72)
Md. Jahirul Islam Khan (SM-209)
Course Tile: Strategic Studies
Course No: 301
Date of submission: 28th July 2011.
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The liberationwar of Bangladesh is a historic event which brought dramatic change in existing social economic and political system of East Pakistan. Though many experts disagree that this war is not a revolutionary war, we might see many of the criteria of revolutionary war in it. If we carefully notice about the dimensions, strategy and result of the war then we can see that it was a revolutionary war though some of the criteria of revolutionary war were absent. So to settle this controversy we have to deeply observe the dimensions, strategies and the result of this war.
2. Revolution and Revolutionary war:
The word revolution has come from the Latin word revolution which means fundamental change in power or organizational structure that takes place in a relatively...

...STRAT SETTING AND CAMPAIGN EXEC
1. Theatre of War and Theatre of Op. The war was fought in two theatres i.e. western and the eastern theatres. The eastern theatre of op included the entire area of present Bangladesh, bordering states of India and the Bay of Bengal in the south up to the IN Eastern Naval Command HQs in Vishakhapatnam.
Theatre Environment
2. Terrain. EP is bounded on three sides by IN and the Bay of Bengal on the South. It has a typical riverine terrain with deltaic plains in the southern portion. The whole terrain was plain except certain hilly areas in the east of Sylhet, Comilla and Chittagong. EP was divided into four distinct sectors by the vast rivers of Padma, Meghna and Jamuna.
3. Weather. The South West monsoon visits EP from the beginning of Jun to the middle of Oct and roughly about 250 mm of rain falls in this period. In 1971 the countryside became inundated and movement off the roads and tracks were not feasible. In dry weather cross-country move of wheeled vehicle with prior reconnaissance was feasible but a shower could bring all such movement to a stop. Small boats were the only means of x country surface communication in rainy season.
4. Effects on Campaign. The terrain and communication infrastructure offered four distinct avenues of approaches (AA) to Dhaka from the Indian border. In the NW through Dinajpur-Rangpur-Bogra-Dhaka, in the SW through...

...﻿The BangladeshLiberationWar in 1971 was for independence from Pakistan. Due to discrimination in economy and ruling powers against them, the East Pakistanis vigorously protested and declared independence on March 26, 1971 under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. But during the year prior to that, to suppress the unrest in East Pakistan, the Pakistani government sent troops to East Pakistan and unleashed a massacre. And thus, the war for liberation commenced.
The Reasons for war :Both East and West Pakistan remained united because of their religion, Islam. West Pakistan had 97% Muslims and East Pakistanis had 85% Muslims. However, there were several significant reasons that caused the East Pakistani people to fight for their independence. Having control over the provinces, the West used up more resources than the East. Although East Pakistan had the largest population among all the provinces, it had much less political power than West Pakistan. This eventually made the people of East Pakistan rebel. Sheik Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the Awami League in East Pakistan, explicitly demanded more economic and political powers. The struggle finally culminated into the war of independence. There was also the language issue that kept East Pakistan and West Pakistan in an uneasy status. In 1948, Mohammad Ali Jinnah stated in Dhaka that Urdu was...

...War for Bangladesh of 1971Bangladesh came through a long history of political evolution. The area's early history featured a succession of Indian empires, internal squabbling, and a tussle between Hinduism and Buddhism for dominance. All of this was just a prelude to the unstoppable tide of Islam which washed over northern India at the end of the 12th century. The Portuguese arrived as early as the 15th century but were ousted in 1633 by local opposition. The East India Company negotiated terms to establish a fortified trading post in Calcutta in 1690. The British Government replaced the East India Company following the Indian Mutiny in 1857.
At the closure of World War II it was clear that European colonialism had run its course and Indian independence was inevitable. Independence was attained in 1947 but the struggle was bitter and divisive, especially in Bengal where the fight for self-government was complicated by internal religious conflict. The British, realizing any agreement between the Muslims and Hindus was impossible, decided to partition the subcontinent. Bengal and Punjab, the two overwhelmingly Muslim regions were divided to be part of both India and Pakistan.
Under the rule of Pakistan, the people of Bangladesh discovered their identity through the Language Movement in 1952. The struggle to establish their identity and national spirit began soon after 1947 when they...